Economic burden of Parkinson’s disease and research trends: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Background Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with a range of motor and non-motor symptom leading to progressive disability that significantly impacts on health related-quality of life (HRQoL) and imposes a substantial economic burden. The overall trend and impact of research production on the economic burden of PD have not yet been documented. In this study, the objective is to describe, map and analyse the evolution and trend of research on the economic burden in PD. Therefore, the initial research questions were: (1) what are the main research keywords on costs in the field of Parkinson’s disease? and (2) how do an author’s studies on the economic burden and costs of Parkinson’s disease influence scientific production? Methods The data used were retrieved from the Web of Science over the past 25 years, from 1997 to 2022. A bibliometric analysis was performed on the basis of the number of articles, citations, published journals, authors, countries scientific production and keywords plus. Results A total of 140 articles that met the criteria were collected and analysed, covering 736 authors, 41 journals and 34 countries. The most productive country was the United States of America (80.71%) and, among the journals, the Movement Disorders journal was the one with the largest growth (n = 27). According to the thematic map, the terms “quality of life”, “impact” and “illness” were considered as having a high level of centrality, a moderate density and a high frequency. In addition, the terms “quality-of-life”, “impact” and illness were the most relevant words. Conclusions This study provides an overview of global research trends on the economic burden of PD.